LAND AND 5V;ATER. 
August 14, 1915. 
"SYDNEY" AND "EMDEN." 
The plan is based on that published in the 
Times, with the corrections which the dispatch 
and the probabilities of the case demand. It was 
only in the very beginning of the action that 
Ev'iden's fire was either rapid or accurate. Cap- 
tain Glossop says his casualties occurred in the 
first few minutes. They numbered twelve only. 
.Verv few hits on an unarmoured sliip might have 
'done this damage. From 9.50 on, then, we can 
assume that Sydney had a complete fire ascen- 
dency over Emden. 
BATTLE OF THE FALKLAND 
ISLANDS. 
Of no other action have so many and so full 
accounts been published. The descriptions given 
in different officers' letters have been numerous, 
and the censorship has been particularly generous 
in allowing a great number of interesting details 
to become known. The broad lines of the actioii 
are simple enough. From a quarter to ten until 
12.20 Admiral Sturdee followed the Germans 
without attempting to shorten range or to bring 
them quickly to action. At 12.20 he closed at full 
speed, opening fire just before one o'clock. At 
this point the German light cruisers were told to 
MODERN NAVAL TACTICS. 
The battle of the Falkland Islands, and the 
engagement between Sydney and Emden are par- 
ticularly interesting as illustrating how far we" 
have travelled since Nelson's day in the art of 
naval tactics. Let us take two typical actions of 
that epoch and show in what these differences 
mainly consist. The moment Nelson saw the 
enemy at Trafalgar he ordered his fleet, which 
was cruising in its fighting formation, to make 
all sail possible so as to get at the enemy with 
the minimum of delay. The preliminaries of the 
action were almost a race between the ships to 
get into fighting range at the earliest possible 
moment. Collingwood outpaced his division, and 
for fifteen minutes fought single-handed. There 
was no waiting by the fast ships for the slower 
ones. There was no thought of the risk that the 
leading ships might be overwhelmed. There was 
only one idea, to make sure of bringing the enemy, 
to action when, cand as, it could be done, and, 
subject to this, to fight that action as nearly as 
possible on the lines of the Memorandum. 
Contrast with this the preliminaries to the 
Falkland Islands fight. " At 10,20 a.m. the 
signal for a general chase was made. The battle- 
cruisers quickly passed ahead of the Carnarvon 
In vmcible*s course thus ^ , 2-0" 
Scharnhorsts - 
5 
J:^--^^. 2-26 
.-* 
Schartihorst 
fi.,Q / 3?^ funnel 
-'/ /j, shot away 
FaZkUnd Ishnds 
%4^ lifting to part: 
Sharnhorst 
v4-I7 
Leipzig turns 
to starb4 
^ . sank 
Gnei5enau 
/Enemy *^/'-*-*%?c*/4.35 
/opens fire ^a^-sq 'I^ 
still firing 
5-8 -I fore funnel 
515 shot away 
ilQ listing to 
,^^ starb4 
6*0 r' • 
\ 62 Gncisenau 
scatter, and the fight resolved itself into three 
complete actions. That between the battle- 
cruisers was an alternation of chase and broad- 
side engagements. Shortly after the second, 
Scharnhorst was sunk, but the finishing off of the 
IGneisenau took another hour and forty minutes. 
The light cruiser actions were pure chases. 
■By a ver}^ pretty evolution Glasgow got on to the 
port side of the Leipsic, and shepherded her 
round so that Kent and Cornwall could come into 
action wdth her. Leipsic was engaged from three 
until a quarter-past seven, by which time she was 
iiopelessly on fire. She did not turn over and 
sink, however, until nine o'clock. At twenty 
minutes to four Kent left Glasgow and Cornwall, 
and went m pursuit of the Dresden, and by pro- 
digious steaming got her within range at five 
^CiOCK She was virtually beaten in an hour and 
£hirty-five minutes. 
-Jji*K*K*„t to I.A.ND AND WATER, AugUSt H, .915.- 26* 
and overtook the Kent. The'Glasgow was ordered 
to keep two miles from the Invincible, and the 
Inflexible was stationed on the starboard quarter 
of the flagship. Speed was eased to twenty knots 
at 11.15 a.m. to enable the other cruisers to get 
into station." An hour and twenty minutes after- 
wards the enemy still kept their distance ! The 
Admiral then decided to increase speed and to 
attack with the three fastest ships : that is, the 
battle-cruisers and the Glasgow. Fire was 
actually opened at 16,500 yards by Inflexible at 
five minutes to one. Von Spee, realising that 
attack was inevitable, turned seven points to 
port, no doubt with the intention of shortening 
the range. Admiral Sturdee turned his battle- 
cruisers, thus following the movement of the 
enemy. The range after the turn was 13,500 
yards, but the Admiral steered such a course as 
to increase, it by nearly 3,000 yards in the next 
i* 
